5 ways to rock a super delish reception coffee bar

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What do we want? Coffee! When do we want it? At our wedding reception! Wedding reception coffee bars are easier than you might think. You can certainly ask your caterer to whip you up a fancy coffee bar for beaucoup bucks, but DIYing it can be just as easy, especially if you use a few shortcuts.

With the right coffee maker setup, the most delish of flavorings and goodies, and even coffee mug favors, your coffee bar can easily outshine the rest of the food. Let's get our bean faces on and DIY the crap out of a rad reception coffee bar.

Lotsa coffee

Providing pre-made coffee is a great way to serve a lot of guests, but sometimes you want a fresh cuppa joe. Single-serve pods (such as from our sponsor, Keurig) offer something for everyone at your wedding including freshly brewed coffee, tea or hot chocolate with a simple press of a button. The Keurig K575 (pictured here) also comes with an extra-large color touch screen making it easy for guests to brew the perfect cup. Keurig brewers can also fit any size beverage bar and color palette.

Cups, two ways

This will look familiar to those of you who've read my book — one offbeat bride borrowed my Muglies idea for her recent wedding, complete... Read more

Speaking of cups: you can either supply disposable paper cups or regular mugs, depending on the number of guests. I love the concept of mismatched "muglies" which can double up as wedding favors. Just scour your local thrift stores for the funkiest mugs you can find.

Coffee bar signage

You have to let guests know where everything is, right? Nab yourself a little chalkboard and write up your favorite coffee combination recommendations. Or snag an ultra cute sign from places like Etsy and then keep it for your own at-home coffee bar setup.

We're thinking a reception from 11 am – 2:30 or 3 pm. Donuts from our favorite local (super divey, 24 hour, cash only) place as an appetizer while we are out taking some pics and then various quiches and root veggie hash and fruit salad . We have family in recovery and neither one of us dance, so shifting the reception to daytime and removing the crazy party focus was best for us. Thanks for asking!

What about those of us who are coffee nerds? I know a lot of folks love the Kuerig thing, but I am not one of them. Has anyone figured out good ways of doing french presses, Chemex, or pour-over bars for a big crowd? Ours is an afternoon wedding, so not everyone will be wanting coffee, but we want what coffee we do have to be well-crafted because that's how we drink it at home.

I'm doing a coffee bar and we're actually planning on hiring someone to act as barista and having the full on coffee bar in place of a regular bar for a brunch reception. My fiance does not drink alcohol, his father was an abusive alcoholic, and he is actually uncomfortable and afraid in situations where people may get drunk, so doing open bar was never an option for us. But he looooves coffee so it seemed like a fun alternative.

It pains me k-cups aren't recyclable!!! So many little pods in landfills… There are a couple of companies that have biodegradable cup bottoms, maybe if you choose this you could try them and see if you like them! In advance, of course.

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